In the sport of water skiing, a skier is pulled over the surface of a body of water by a boat with the aid of a tow rope. In order to couple the tow rope to the boat, a ski tow fixture is often attached to the transom of the boat and the tow rope is hooked around the ski tow.
A number of different ski tows have been employed for securing a tow rope to a boat. Some ski tows include a ring-shaped body that is secured to the boat so as to extend rearwardly from the transom. Integral with the ring body is a finger that is directed forward toward the transom. The tow rope is secured to the boat by placing a loop formed in the rope over the finger. These fixtures have proven quite useful because they provide a relatively simple mechanism for coupling the tow rope to the fixture. However, these fixtures have several disadvantages. In particular, with some of these assemblies, if the tow rope goes slack, the loop can sometimes work itself off the finger and free of the ski tow. Once this occurs, it is necessary to spend time reattaching the rope to the ski tow. Moreover, many of these ski tows are fabricated by welding or otherwise securing the finger to the outer surface of the ring body. It has been found that precision welding of the finger to the ring body is a difficult task that all too frequently is performed incorrectly or results in final assembly with unattractive appearance. Consequently, the cost of manufacturing these ski tows tends to be relatively high owing to the cost of precision welding the units and the taking into account the waste that results from periodic miswelding.
Another basic type of ski tow is one that has a generally U-shaped body that extends rearward from the transom to which it is attached. This type of ski tow is provided with a center finger that extends inward toward the transom. The tow rope is coupled to this fixture by wrapping the loop formed in the rope around both the body and the finger. These assemblies have proved useful in that when rope the is attached to one, it seldom works itself free of the ski tow fixture. A disadvantage of these fixtures is that care must be taken to properly wrap the tow rope around both the fixture body and associated finger in the correct pattern. If the rope is not properly wrapped around the fixture, there is a possibility that the rope can work itself free. Moreover, these fixtures, like those tows with ring shaped bodies, are often manufactured by welding the finger to the outer surface of the associated body. Thus, as with ski tows formed with ring shaped bodies, owing to the periodic manufacture of units with either structural or aesthetic defects, the manufacturing costs of these ski tows can be higher than one would normally expect.
Moreover, many ski tow fixtures are designed to serve as more than just as an actual tow rope coupling member. Often the ski tow is employed as a horizontally oriented support or stanchion to secure a rail located around the transom to the boat. These rails are often secured to boats used to tow water skiers to function as handgrips that make it easier for skiers to enter and leave the water. Most rails have a rounded cross-sectional profiles and are typically secured to ski tow fixtures with ring shaped bodies. Currently, a rail is typically secured to ski tow by simply flattening the ends of the tubing forming the rail and then welding the tubing to the side of the ski tow. A disadvantage of these assemblies is that no matter how carefully one flattens the tubing or tries to weld it to the ski tow fixture, the final assembled product tends to have an uneven, unattractive appearance. Consequently, a considerable amount of time is often spent trying to properly fabricate these assemblies so that they are both structurally sound and have at least some aesthetically pleasing qualities.